Imagine sitting in a Parisian cafe with a warm drink in hand, not people-watching but cheering on a cowboy as he takes on a chute fighter. This unexpected scene is a possibility now that U.S., Canadian and Australian youth have a new online network that will enable them to share the heart-pounding thrill of the rodeo globally. In joining the the Alltech Ag Network on iHigh.com?, the National High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA) has a feature-rich platform that will enable them to post news articles, share photos and video clips, and even live-stream broadcast their events online and to mobile devices.
?The Alltech Ag Network is eager to begin working with the National High School Rodeo Association in sharing its story with a global audience. It’s important for us to communicate the personality, passion and fun that exists within the agriculture community,? said Billy Frey, general manager of the Alltech Ag Network.
The NHSRA will have a dedicated Web site as well as its own channel ? delivering up ?all rodeo, all of the time.? iHigh and the NHSRA?partnered together last summer to provide the first-ever complete live video webcasts of the National Junior High Finals Rodeo and National High School Finals Rodeo, drawing more than two million views during the events. This new partnership will expand the association?s reach, allowing states and provinces the ability to work with iHigh to webcast rodeos, post photos and articles and market their associations through the NHSRA Channel.
?This is an exciting moment for the Association,? said NHSRA?Executive Director James Higginbotham. ?iHigh.com is the best in the business at helping youth organizations and groups to share their experiences on the web and in the digital realm. ?We received a terrific response to the webcasts of the Finals events last year. Due to this new arrangement, we will be able to expand iHigh?s expertise onto a more local level to help our states and provincial associations to further market their product and support their members.?
Founded by Jim Host, iHigh.com started with a focus on high schools nearly twelve years ago. More recently, iHigh has rapidly expanded its offerings to small colleges and universities, private schools and youth organizations large and small, such as iHoops, USA Swimming, the NJCAA, BMX, debate, FFA and others.
?iHigh.com is very excited to partner with the NHSRA and its thousands of members in the U.S., Canada and Australia,? CEO Jim Host said of the new partnership. ?Rodeo athletes and participants will be able to use our unique mix of features, including our athlete profiles and our patent pending iHigh-light feature wherein the athlete can choose his/her favorite clips from videos and broadcasts and pull those into their profile to share out to the world.?
Host continued by noting how rodeo events from around the country can be live-streamed and viewed by family and friends around the world, not only on computers but also on ?smart phones,? iPads and other ?smart? media.
?We look forward to facilitating greater visibility to the sport, while also forging new avenues of revenue opportunities along the way,? Host said. ?Ultimately, the goal is to help the NHSRA and its members to thrive in this challenging economic environment.?
iHigh is working with the individual states and provinces within the NHSRA?to help them set up their free accounts and begin using the variety of services that are offered. Several states and provinces have already joined on to the service. For more information and to register, association officials should contact the NHSRA at 1-800-466-4772.
Archived webcasts of the NJHFR and NHSFR are available for viewing by visiting www.ihigh.com/nhsra.
